Nerimian Sun & Isaac
by Hellhound Rider
Summary: This is what happens when the cast of Ranma and Golden Sun, do a CULTURAL EXCHANGE. Read & Review
1. Prologue: Cultural Exchange

Ya know, I've been wanting to write a parody for a while  
  
Aero (Jupiter Djinn, power similar to Granite): Then DO IT!  
  
But I'd have to actually write and torture characters and create cliffhanger to annoy muses  
  
Aero: [Glowing purple and looking rather scary for a defensive djinn]  
  
WARNING: Character substitutions are based on personality, and not couples in either group. Your turn Aero  
  
Aero [grumbling]: This nut owns nothing except his own insanity.  
  
[Casts Pound]  
  
Aero: Ouch. [Casts Spark Plasma and Destruct Ray]  
  
[Crispy, casts Ply Well] Why are all the defensive djinn so warlike?  
  
-------  
  
Cheesy Prologue: Cultural Exchange  
  
It was a dull day in Nerima. While some took this as one of the signs of the apocalypse, others took it as a sign to launch intricate schemes to cause massive bodily or psychological harm to one pigtailed martial artist. Why you may ask, who knows. But back to the main attraction, which is a busty redhead sitting on the roof of the Tendo house, reading over a mysterious letter.  
  
The letter had just appeared out of thin air in the one spot that Ranma always managed to go and no one else did - under the bridge. That one spot that the martial artist considered secure and sacred and a letter, addressed to him even, had been left there. Despite the danger sense singing a small symphony and fact that everyone else would inevitably follow him, he took the letter and read it on the spot. It was an offer for a chance to "escape it all for a bit"  
  
'This would make GREAT training.' The girl thought. 'Watch out Ryoga cause after I get back from this, you're going down!'  
  
And with that rather pleasant thought out of the way, Ranma-chan leapt gracefully off the roof and went upstairs to change and go to bed. After all, you never know when a crazed panda's going to throw you out of a window.  
  
-------  
  
It was a boring day at the Inn in Vale. Ivan had finished showing Sheba the sights of the little town, Isaac was sitting at the table with a sort of glazed expression, the traces of a minor nosebleed forming. Garet was running frantically from Jenna, who was trying to Dragon Fume him for saying something inappropriate. Picard and Kraden were at another table, sharing information and theories about this, that and Lemuria. Felix, oddly enough was at Isaac's table getting thoroughly drunk - The lack of duty or things to do had finally gotten to him. Poor boy. Mia was off in Imil at the present moment, catching up with her two apprentices, teaching them in the sacred art of healing.  
  
There were no lighthouses to defend or light, no towns or people that needed rescuing, and nobody had seen or heard form Alex since that whole Golden Sun thing a month or two ago.  
  
There was also another problem. That left 72 bored, and rather powerful in their own right, elemental beings known as Djinn. Currently, the cute little djinn were up in Sol Sanctum, enjoying a day off from the Adepts. While arguing about what to do, Flint came across a couple of rolled up parchments. Odd thing is that one was addressed to the Djinn, the other to the Adepts.  
  
"Hey Bane! Letter!" Flint called. Bane, who was arguing with Luff (which was complaining), stopped in mid-rant, and stared at the younger Venus djinn. Walking (?) over to Flint and the letters, the Venus djinn pair opened it up. The letter oddly enough requested the assistance of the little critters to "maintain chaos during a cultural exchange". The rest of the djinn clamoured about the parchment letter, and after a heated discussion between them, decided to do it. They then elected Zephyr to deliver the letter to the Adepts.  
  
Not one Adept in all of Vale noticed the little Jupiter Djinn zoom by, which was probably a good thing. Using all the stealth that being little, fast and purple could afford, he dropped the letter on Isaac's table. Blinking twice which snapped him out a rather interesting fantasy (NOT going there), then looking around for a deliverer, but finding none, the young Earth Adept prodded the rolled up parchment before opening.  
  
"Hmm . training trip .. New combat skills ." Isaac muttered. Truth be told, he was itching for an adventure, or at least a change. At that moment, an extra-crisp Garet stumbled into the bar, covered in the telltale burn of Mars psynergy. He unceremoniously plopped a chair down next to Isaac and grumbled. The earth adept snickered and cast Potent Cure to fix his friend right up.  
  
"Hey Garet, we got a letter. Looks interesting, what do you think?" Isaac said simply, handing it over to the now de-crispified fire adept.  
  
"Let's go for it. What about the others?" Garet asked.  
  
Isaac shrugged. So the adept pair went and asked the others.  
  
-------  
  
Back in Nerima, Ranma was walking casually to the appointed destination. Of course, being Nerima, almost everyone knew of it courtesy of Nabiki. He arrived at the spot, which ironically enough was the front yard of Furinkan High. He had just sat down on the ground, waiting for his ride when he heard just about the last thing he wanted to hear.  
  
"Ranma Saotome, prepare to DIE!" was the battle cry of the eternally lost as Ryoga's combat umbrella prepared to do some blunt force trauma to Ranma's skull. But being Ranma, all he had to do was jump to avoid it. And so the fight between two of the cursed martial artists had begun.  
  
A block and a half away, Nabiki and Akane were following. Nabiki, trying to make some quick yen off of whatever Ranma was doing; and Akane was sure that the pigtailed pervert was doing something perverted. Her battle aura flared with righteous fury. As the pair arrived, they heard the unmistakable sounds of fighting and . a bicycle bell?  
  
Let it be known that the sound of a bike's bell heralds the arrival of the amorous Amazon, Shampoo. Riding the two-wheeled instrument of doom, she managed to jump off of a wall, and off the bike. She twisted about in mid air, rebounding off of Ryoga, and sending him face-first into the ground and landed in a full three-point Amazon Glomp on her supposed Airen.  
  
Of course, this being Ranma, the two Tendo sisters would pick now to show up. Already glowing red with so-called righteous rage, Akane produced mallet-sama from her personal Hammerspace and attempted to nail the pigtailed one in LEO. Shampoo, not wanting to release her glomp on Ranma, simply kicked the offending wooden tool, while pulling her bonbori from weaponspace. Nabiki, having a more level head, observed the carnage and thought of the more reasonable conclusion of Shampoo interrupting.  
  
While Akane and Shampoo glared at each other, Ryoga got up and charged at Ranma again. And thus the fight started again. Trying to use the Bakusai Tenketsu to create a distraction was met with a Chesnut Fist to the gut. Growling, Ryoga just picked up his umbrella again, and charged in. All the while, the pigtailed martial artist was flinging insults at the lost boy.  
  
By this time, two more players arrived. The first was Ukyo, the owner of the aptly named Ucchan's restaurant. Ignoring the danger of the aqua- transsexual/lost-boy fight, the young chef glomped onto her Ranchan. At this time, Mousse decided to make an appearance, and mistaking Ukyo for his darling Shampoo, attacked Ranma with whatever was up his sleeves this week. Ranma jumped again, and Ukyo dodged the chains and met the death glares of the other two fiancées. Unholstering her oversized spatula, the chef joined in the glaring contest.  
  
The insanity that was this crew's normal life ended as Kuno charged into the fray. But as the nutty kendoist was about to strike Ranma while declaring his usual crap, a bright flash of white light engulfed them all. When the light vanished, only Shampoo and Mousse remained. The blind Amazon was actually glomping onto Shampoo, until a bonbori was introduced to his skull. Poor guy was knocked out cold, but he has a goofy grin on his face.  
  
With her airen gone, Shampoo just doused her admirer in convenient cold water, and carried the now unconscious duck back to the Nekohaten.  
  
-------  
  
Deep inside Sol Sanctum, in the now Luna room, 6 Adepts and 72 djinn waited, staring at a wall. The adepts were fully armed and apparently ready for anything. When it glistened and glowed with energy, all 78 of them strolled through the portal.  
  
Ivan, in a moment of insight, had decided to stay behind. Partly because Master Hammet might come back, partly to tell Mia what happened, and partly to fill in the new arrivals about what hell they're about to go through.  
  
-------  
  
In a funky Technicolor void, the rather interesting crowd of 5 martial artists, 6 adepts, Nabiki, and 72 djinn were getting to know each other which is the nice way for saying that all hell was breaking loose. The chaos reigned until a deep voice boomed to from nowhere and from everywhere.  
  
"Welcome to the Æther, the void between worlds. You humans were offered training in a new locale and that you shall get. You will swap places for a while. During this time you'll grow and learn new and interesting things," the voice boomed, snickering.  
  
"You're on!" Ranma declared.  
  
"The Djinn have agreed to be helpers to you all. You especially," the voice continues, a hand materialising to point at the Nerima Wrecking Crew, which then dematerialized. "Could benefit from their wisdom and powers. You will also receive a bit of knowledge now. The rest is for you to discover. If you need help, one of the djinn will help."  
  
In another impressive flash of light, everyone disappeared.  
  
-------  
  
Up in the frosty reaches of Imil, Mia shivered. It felt cold and lonely, like someone took away her one true love. She got all starry-eyed thinking of her Isaac-chan. Her apprentices Megan and Justin sighed, and went to the Inn for food. They knew Mia and she'd be like that for a while . a long while.  
  
-------  
  
Back at the Tendo homestead, Kasumi was in the middle of preparing the usual supper when some force prompted her to make more. Said force materialized onto her shoulder. She took one look at it and gushed.  
  
"Oh my. Would you like some tea?"  
  
The little creature facefaulted. It wasn't the reaction it had hoped for.  
  
-------  
  
Aero: No evil cliffhanger?  
  
Not this time [smiles]  
  
Aero: [twitches] What do you mean "THIS TIME"?  
  
[calmly] You heard me. 


	2. Following the Golden Sun Crew

Aero, I'm back!  
  
Aero: Damn I thought I locked all the doors  
  
[Way too sweetly] You did. I had to break in  
  
Aero: There's no evil cliffhangers, RIGHT? [Glows purple]  
  
Chill out little djinn [Casts Megacool]  
  
Aero: [Freezing] I th-thought y-you were a h-h-h-healer! [Frozen]  
  
Anyway, since Aero's chilling, literally, I have to be the one that says that "I own nothing . nothing!" Not even the bad Sgt. Shultz impression  
  
------  
  
Part 1a: Mallets are from Mars, Curses are from Mercury.  
  
Nerima breathed a small sigh of relief when the fight at Furinkan started. It meant that the weirdness was still there and the world wasn't going to end. So nobody was especially bothered by the large flash of light that made 6 people disappear. Compared to guys turning into girls, pigs, or ducks; it ranked only a 5 on the Weird-Shit-o-Meter.  
  
Well, one person was bothered, and for the same pigtailed reason. She stood on a gnarled staff staring in the direction of the high school. 'Now where has son-in-law gone this time?' She thought, as his energy signature disappeared from her 300-year-old senses.  
  
------  
  
At the Tendo home, Kasumi was having a rather interesting conversation with a cute little blue . thing. It introduced herself as Spritz, a Mercury Djinn. Also, she described her healing capabilities. Kasumi, being the family's medical nut, gushed.  
  
"Oh my, that's terribly exciting. Do you think you could teach me how to do that?"  
  
Spritz sweatdropped. Definitely not the reaction she expected. She agreed naturally. After all, who could say no to Kasumi. And so, Spritz starting to teach Kasumi in the sacred arts of healing, starting with Ply. As well as fill her in on what's going to happen.  
  
Partway through the lesson, there was a brilliant flash of light as 6 adepts fell in a heap outside the Tendo's side door. Still decked out in their armour and weapons, the 6 proved to be an interesting sight. When Kasumi went to check on the strange noise, Spritz decided to hide, Setting herself to Kasumi. The young housekeeper looked outside and noticed the pile of strangely clad people start to disentangle themselves from each other.  
  
"Oh my, are you friends of Ranma? He has some of the most interesting friends." Kasumi asked. "Would you like some tea?"  
  
The Adepts, in their various states of getting up, collectively facefaulted. This had the unfortunate reaction of putting them back into a dishevelled heap. Kasumi giggled as the pile of people tried desperately to untangle themselves. Sensing that she could be of some help, she went to the closest person to her, a blue-haired young man. After much pulling, squirming, and threatening to incinerate perverts (two guesses), the Valean crew managed to get all detangled and stand up.  
  
There was an awkward as six armed people were in the Tendo estate. But given the previous weirdoes that poor Ranma has attracted, Kasumi isn't too phased by it. It's now that her manners kick in. "Oh my, how silly of me. My name is Kasumi," the young lady said bowing.  
  
The blue-haired young man, being the calmest and most polite one at the moment takes the honours of doing he introductions. "The tall, spikey- haired blond is Isaac. The big redhead is Garet. The one threatening to torch Garet is Jenna while the blond girl trying to calm her down is Sheba. The quiet one over ther is Felix, and my name is Picard." The Lemurian says, bowing respectfully, kissing Kasumi's hand, who naturally blushes. "I believe we've been sent here on some sort of cultural exchange program."  
  
"Oh my," Kasumi says. "I didn't realize you'd be here already. I still have to cook supper and your clothes seem so dirty. My new friend Spritz said that you would be arriving soon. She also told me to warn you of picking up the . quirks of some of the others that were here." She said in her typical sweet fashion, just as Jenna used a mallet of pure Mars Psynergy to clobber Garet. The redhead was thoroughly unconscious in a small crater in the ground. "Just like my dear sister Akane," Kasumi said thoughtfully.  
  
The rest of the day passed uneventfully until the two adults came home. Genma tried to attack Isaac, but Picard came to the rescue, and swatted the fat martial artist into the koi pond, traumatizing the poor fish further. Soun just started balling at the fact that two of his daughters are gone, until Kasumi added in that Ranma was with Akane, then he went on a tirade of how they went of to elope.  
  
The sanity of the adults was put on hold when they noticed a large panda walking on two legs heading towards the entryway. The six of them jumped to their feet, clutching various weapons capable of mass property damage. While they had never seen a panda before, the stance did remind them of the Maulers up north near Imil. At the thought of Imil, Isaac's eyes glazed over a bit, thinking of his dear angelic Mia. Snapping back to reality fast, they were about to attack when Kasumi appeared with .  
  
"A kettle of hot water?" Sheba asked. Wanting to get the scoop first, Sheba decided to try Mind Read on Kasumi. She glowed with purplish rings of psynergy. Neither adult noticed  
  
"Oh my, what pretty rings" Kasumi said. What she was thinking was a sealed matter. #Nuh-uh Windy. You gotta wait like the rest of them#. That definitely wasn't her voice though. Mental voices tended to sound like the physical voice, give or take a few years. The voice sounded familiar, kind of like .  
  
"Spritz," Sheba grumbled silently as Kasumi unceremoniously dumped the hot water on the panda, turning him back into a man. In her quest to be the first to know, she actually missed the brief explanation of what happened and became the last to know.  
  
Later that evening after everyone got a good meal and warm conversation, the adepts decided that it was time for bed. Since they were all friends and didn't overly want to be separated for one reason or another, Kasumi insisted that they sleep out in the dojo. After all it was the largest single room and without many of Nerima's insane martial artists, it would be a rather quiet place. Six left the main house with simple instructions on how to get there, but only five arrived.  
  
When Kasumi arrived at the dojo, carrying two futons because she insisted on doing all the work because they were guests, she took a head count. "Oh my, there's one missing. Where's that nice redheaded friend of yours?"  
  
Isaac and company looked around. Sheba even tried her Jupiter psynergies to find him. Strange at it was to the adepts, Garet was gone. "I don't know, but he's be around here somewhere." Isaac stated fairly confidently. "Isn't he?"  
  
-------  
  
I should end it here. After all, Aero's in no condition to yell at me.  
  
Aero: [Cold, but free] NO YOU DON'T! [Casts Spark Plasma]  
  
[Crispy] Fine, wreck my fun. Just so you know, this is because I froze you earlier.  
  
Aero: [Glowing purple and looking scary] Just DO IT!  
  
[Muttering] It's always the defensive ones. [Casts Pure Ply]  
  
Aero: What?  
  
[Kindly] Nothing!  
  
-------  
  
Somewhere . who knows where . well somewhere anyways, Garet sneezed. He didn't know why, and right now he didn't care. He kicked the tree, then Pyroclasmed it to charcoal in frustration. Only one thing was on his mind, aside from food and feisty female fire adepts. "WHERE AM I NOW?" The Mars adept called out to the heavens. He was so caught up in being lost that he never noticed the rain.  
  
Back at the dojo, Jenna fumed, well Dragon Fumed actually. She aimed her powerful spell at the bar ground, charring it nicely while venting off frustration. Why was the fiery adept frustrated you may ask? It was because her crush/scapegoat/victim was out touring the area as Isaac put it. Felix just said he was lost. The Venus adepts even made a bet on which one it was for 5 gold coins.  
  
The rest of them, convinced that the big lug would be fine alone, fell asleep in little time. Jenna stared into the distance a few minutes longer before succumbing to the sandman  
  
The next morning saw a fat martial artist tiptoe into the dojo. The water in the bucket sloshed around but as water attacks are the norm for Nerima, none of the sleeping adepts woke up. Now let it be known that without Ranma to, er, train, Genma was a bored man. And since these new arrivals used weapons, he thought that he could beat them no sweat. So, with gusto, he threw the water at the adepts.  
  
The introduction of cold water on the sleeping form had a few interesting effects. Most of them just shot up expecting an attack. Jenna however, not only woke up, but Searing Beamed the source of the water. Poor panda didn't even see it coming as the high-powered Mars attach now only cooked him medium-rare, but send him flying into LEO. He would land a full minute later in the koi pond, steam rising due to hot panda meeting cold water.  
  
The adepts that were awake held up signs 9, 9, 9, and 6. Jenna glared at Felix, who very nervously turned over the sign to read '9'. It was by then that they noticed that Isaac hadn't woken up. He was drenched but still asleep, turning about in his sleep muttering something incoherently. Sheba, grouchy from having been woken up in a rude and wet manner, Plasma- ed Isaac's ass, waking him up with a jolt.  
  
"What'd you do that for?" Isaac asked, but all were too stunned to respond.  
  
-------  
  
There, a perfect ending spot  
  
Aero: CLIFFHANGER?!?  
  
Only a little one. As if you can't guess what's going to happen.  
  
Aero: Cliffhanger? And after I stopped you once? TAKE THIS [Casts Spark Plasma, Destruct Ray, Tempest and a variety of other Jupiter attacks]  
  
[Onslaught bounces off reddish shield] Thanks Flash.  
  
Flash: No problem. Killing you is MY job. WHAT did you do to Garet? [Glows red and look REALLY scary]  
  
[Gulp] . . um . . Look, a decoy! [Points]  
  
Aero, Flash: [Looks]  
  
[Runs away] 


	3. Nerimian Winds of Change

And now for something completely the same  
  
Aero: I hope you're happy. It took a LOT of sugar to get rid of Flash!  
  
Not my problem. I'm only giving the Adepts some interesting new ... quirks  
  
Aero: Quirks my ass! [Casts Tempest]  
  
[Hair all messy] Grr. You TOUCHED the hair. AERO, PREPARE TO DIE!  
  
[Bats Aero into LEO with combat umbrella produced from Weaponspace]  
  
[Ryoga wanders in, notes that it isn't where he wants to be and leaves] [Garet wanders in, notes that it isn't where Jenna is, thanks Mars, then walks off] [Two lab mice walk through the scene, doing nothing but take up space]  
  
Enough with the gratuitous cameos! I don't own nothing!  
  
[Aero slams into the ground at near terminal velocity]  
  
Aero: That's a double negative! [Casts Ray] Say it right!  
  
[Charred] Fine, I own nothing, not even the cameo gag I ripped off a show called Animaniacs.  
  
[Casts Ply] [Grumbles] It's always the defensive ones.  
  
-------  
  
Part 1b: Nerimian Winds of Change  
  
Ivan sat alone in the bar in Vale. It was dull without the rest of them around, even if they had only been gone for an hour or two. There was nobody to Mind Read, nobody to play pranks on and worse of all, no embarrassing moments to blackmail people with. And to those that lived in Vale, they learned of one of the most frightening forces in all of the lands ... a bored Jupiter Adept.  
  
Said bored Jupiter adept decide to walk about Vale in an attempt to find something to do. It didn't take a genius to see that he was bored. Inwardly, he was wishing for some excitement. He was walking by the Psynergy stone in the center of the rebuilt Vale when he suddenly found himself drenched from hair to foot.  
  
"Why does it always have to be WATER?" A high-pitched voice called out.  
  
"Bwee!" Something else in the water called out  
  
"Oh P-Chan, how did you get here?" Another girl's vice asked, as she plucked the thrashing piglet out of the water  
  
"Probably got lost," the first voice said, with a hint of venom in the voice. She was glaring daggers at the piglet, which was naturally in Akane's death grip and stuffed in her bosom. Odd thing is that the piglet looked like it could get a nosebleed at any moment.  
  
"Quit picking on P-Chan!" The second voice said, before pulling out a Masher Mark 2 and malleted the first girl out of the water and into the Inn's wall, a good 30 to 40 feet away. Those that saw the feat were impressed despite the property damage. After all, Jenna usually used Dragon Fume and Searing Beam to blast Garet through a wall - this new girl did it on strength alone. The crew in the water held up signs reading 10, 6, and 6.  
  
"You've done better little sister." Nabiki said at Akane's death glare.  
  
"She's right, honey." Ukyo agreed.  
  
"Oh my fairest Akane, now that you are ... URK!" Kuno tried to spout, but was malleted into LWO by an extremely irritated Akane.  
  
"Now that Akane, was a ten" Nabiki admitted, watching Kuno sailing into the sky. Ukyo nodded.  
  
It was then that Ivan decided to brave the strange crew. Inching up quietly to them, he decided to Mind Read them first to determine whether it was safe. The familiar rings of Jupiter Psnergy surrounded the adept as he probed the mind of the closest one. The chef twitched, having had some experience in magic, as her mind was probed.  
  
#Just what has Ranchan gotten us into this time, and why does Akane have to hit him all the time?# Were the thoughts that Ivan picked up on the chef. Delving deeper into her thoughts, he saw only what could be described as Really Weird Shit. And that is saying something coming from one that has traveled from one end of Weyard to the other.  
  
Just to confirm the Really Weird Shit that he was reading from the one girl, he decided to walk over to the girl that had now just pulled herself out from the wall. Her fiery red pigtail had some hairs in disarray, and her Chinese vest and pants were sporting minor damage, but he looked fine. The young adept offered a hand to the young lady. Poor Ivan was only tall enough to look into her well-endowed chest. Seconds later, he was passed out on the ground, with a stupid grin plastered on his face and the traces of a nosebleed.  
  
Somewhere, Sheba just got the urge to Spark Plasma something, but shook it off.  
  
Grumbling about perverts and little boys, Ranma-chan just slung Ivan over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and yelled into the hole that she just pulled herself out of.  
  
"There any place that I can dump this kid?" The martial artist yelled into the hole.  
  
"Bring him in, you can use one of the rooms upstairs," the innkeeper yelled back. Ranma-chan did just that.  
  
A short time later, The Nerimian crew was sitting in one room of the in inn various states of dress and undress. By now, Ranma had gotten his hot water and the adepts of Vale were wondering where 'that spunky redhead' was. Also while Akane was removing her clothes, P-Chan had gotten his hot bath and a new set of his traveling clothes. The females of the gang all had robes on while their clothes were being 'Flare-dried' as one kid mysteriously put it.  
  
Kuno had returned from his trip and crashed through in Inn's roof at terminal velocity, and made a crater in the floor where everyone just left him. The blond-haired stranger to the Wrecking Crew was on one of the empty beds, and starting to come to his senses. Unnoticed to everyone, he started to Mind Read the black-haired guy, who was wearing the exact same outfit as the redheaded girl.  
  
Ranma started to sense some form of power being used on him when some voice chimed in his head #Lemmehandleit.Ohbythewaymyname'sZephyr.Nicetomeetyou.#. Not completely understanding what the voice said due to its mile-a-second mouth, he shrugged inwardly.  
  
Ivan's Mind Read was in full swing as he started to peer into the young man's mind. He got as far as a pit of cats when a familiar presence spoke up in the mindscape.  
  
#Nuh-uh.CuriousitykilledtheAdept.Youwannaknowwhattheboy'slifeislike?# Zephyr's voice rang out. Ivan, being the ever-curious Wind Adept, agreed. Poor kid didn't realize that with the Nerima Wrecking Crew, what he could only describe as Really Weird Shit, was in fact a normal day for them. He was shocked out of Ranma's mind by a splash of.  
  
"Ptooey! I'm all wet." Ivan cried out, spitting out a mouthful of water. For the record, Mia had just Doused the young Jupiter Adept.  
  
Glaring at the young blue-haired maiden behind her, Ivan's eyes threatening much pain, though Ivan couldn't actually work up the nerve to hurt the lady. Even Wind Adepts aren't curious enough to piss off the healer . especially since it looked like she was miffed already.  
  
The blue-haired lady, who had walked in a few seconds earlier, was grinning at the stunned Jupiter Adept. She was going to ask the young man where everyone else was, but one look at Ivan and she was too stunned to speak. Ivan looked about, then passed out from pure shock. Ranma, Akane, Nabiki, Ukyo, and Ryoga just looked at the passed out Ivan. The girls started to strike up some small talk with the new arrival  
  
"I feel your pain man," Ranma said to Ivan's unconscious form. Ryoga was just stunned.  
  
-------  
  
Oh yeah, LWO is for Low Weyard Orbit. After all, it ain't Nerima anymore, isn't it Aero. Aero? [Notes Aero] GIMME THAT! I'm not finished writing that!  
  
Aero: [Reading next chapter] You did THIS? The rabid fans are going to be on your ass for this!  
  
Let them, I have you to unleash for a temporary shield.  
  
Aero: And then what?  
  
[Motions to springs that have suddenly sprung up in the room]  
  
Aero: You're EVIL! PLUS you left ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!  
  
No I didn't. [Waves hand] You do not notice the cliffhanger  
  
Aero: [Monotone] I do not no . [Jolts] How DARE you try the Adept Mind Trick! TAKE THAT! [Casts Spark Plasma, Tempest, Blue Bolt and Destruct Ray]  
  
[Dodges them all at Amiguriken Speed, then bops Aero with a gnarled old staff]  
  
Chestnuts - more than just something to roast on an open fire.  
  
[Grins and holds up a bag of chestnuts]  
  
Aero: [KO'ed, complete with swirly-eyed effects]  
  
Beware for when universes blend, crazy stuff will happen. What will happen when the Adepts meet the Amazons and the Ancient Lecher of Nightmares. or even worse, when the Wrecking Crew discovers Psnyergy? Only time will tell. 


	4. Amazons, Adepts, and Perverts, Oh my!

[Looks to springs with a vacant yet wise-type look] Aero, I sense a disturbance in the Thang . like thousands of rabid fans crying out for vengeance, then were suddenly satisfied.  
  
[Dramatic pause]  
  
Aero: No wonder I wanted a cigarette after.  
  
No, that was you reading lemons again.  
  
Aero: [Thinks about that] That too. But back to my duties as your Whirlwind of Inspiration!  
  
More like Windbag of Torment  
  
Aero: [Growls, casts Shine Plasma]  
  
[Counters with Supercool]  
  
[Dust cloud fight ensues with flashes of purple and blue every once in a while]  
  
Three hours later .  
  
[Panting and charred] It's a draw?  
  
Aero: [Panting and frostbit] Fine. Now can we get on with this?  
  
[Casts Pure Wish] I guess we can.  
  
Aero: The healer here owns nothing from and including Weyard or Nerima. Or that bad Star Wars rip-off at the beginning.  
  
-------  
  
Part 2: Amazons, Adepts, and Perverts, Oh my!  
  
When we last left the adepts, they were all staring at Isaac. Or at least what should be the Venus Adept. What was there was a shorter redhead, and the hair lied partway down the back, for it was straight instead of being all spiky and chaotic. Though the figure wore what Isaac wore to bed that night, one thing was off. But things like this took delicate tact and careful wording to avoid causing severe emotional trauma.  
  
Unfortunately, Picard was too stunned to speak, so Felix was the first to open his mouth.  
  
"He's a GIRL!" Felix exclaimed before passing out, the tiniest trickle of blood escaping his nose. Jenna looked over to her fallen brother.  
  
"And he calls Garet a pervert," the feisty adept muttered, after promising to Serpent Fume him later. Only Garet was special enough to be Dragon Fumed in righteous fury. Though the touch of drool coming from the corner his mouth was slowly causing her to re-evaluate that opinion.  
  
"What do you mean I'm a ." Issac-chan started, then noticed his, er, her hands had rested on something. Well it was two somethings actually, one in each hand. Bluntly opening his top, and praying to Venus that they weren't real, he stared right down at them.  
  
"Oh dear," Picard said, a terminal blush forming before turning away out of common decency.  
  
Jenna, the ever spunky one, cracked the new female on the head with her Nebula Wand, which had somehow stowed itself in Nerimian Weaponspace. "Show some female modesty! Mars, you're hopeless!"  
  
"I'm a guy, damnit!" Isaac retorted, purely out of unknown reflex.  
  
Somewhere in Weyard, Ranma sneezed.  
  
Sheba poked Isaac-chan's breasts. "Feels pretty real to me," Sheba observed. The dojo was cast in the monochrome light of her Reveal psynergy. "Plus, my Reveal even says that it's real. Sorry to report, but you are a girl." she said, bluntly so as it would go through Isaac'chan's head.  
  
Just as all Hail, er Hell was about to break loose with the remaining adepts, Kasumi decided to walk in, with Spritz perched happily on her shoulder. Spritz was happy because Kasumi was both a pleasant girl and actually listened to the Djinn's teachings. Seeing the rather large lump forming on the female Isaac's head, Kasumi went straight over to him and held one hand over the lump.  
  
"Like this?" The housekeeper asked the little djinn on her shoulder.  
  
"Yep. Now just concentrate and say 'Ply'." Spritz instructed. Kasumi happily followed the instructions, concentrating her newly developed Mercury powers, astonishing the adepts completely. When the pretty little fairy had make it's appearance, it healed the lump on Isaac-chan's head completely. Kasumi just smiled sweetly and rose to her feet, despite the stunned looks of almost everyone else  
  
"Breakfast will be ready shortly if someone would like to use the bath," Kasumi said in here usual cheerfully oblivious manner, before strolling out to check on said breakfast.  
  
After Felix had woken up again, he noticed the stunned looks of his five friends. Figuring Picard would give him the answer fastest, that's what he did.  
  
"Well, Lady Kasumi came in to inform us that breakfast was ready, then saw the lump that Jenna gave Isaac, and then used Ply to fix it." The Lemurian stated, still somewhat stunned.  
  
Processing . processing . processing . DING! "PLY? The psynergy Ply?" Felix asked, fully regaining his senses.  
  
"Correct."  
  
"I need a cold shower." Felix stated, before grabbing his outerwear and heading for the main house. Inside, Kasumi pointed the way to the bathroom and the Venus adept proceeded to wash off the last couple of days of dirt and grime as well as a morning of unpleasant mental pictures. Poor guy needs a girlfriend.  
  
At breakfast, all was quiet. The adepts ate . well they ate with gusto, though with Garet missing, there wasn't as much gusto. Kasumi was eating serenely while Spritz disappeared, Setting herself to the housekeeper. Soun just hid behind his paper, his emotions easy to read and changing every ten seconds. Genma was an unconscious panda at the moment for the fat panda still wanted a fight. Picard obliged, kicking his furry ass in an interesting form of unarmed Lemurian combat. The blue-haired man won't say just how many years of training he's had, but it was enough to pound the panda into submission.  
  
All was normal, which for Nerima means that something weird or disturbing should happen in 5 . 4 . 3 . 2 .  
  
"SWEETO!" *GLOMP*  
  
Guess they wanted to get to things early.  
  
Something . or rather someone had just latched themselves squarely on Jenna's chest and was oh so happily groping and fondling her in ways that cannot be described. In typical Mars Adept fashion, she Fumed, sending the flames at the . thing. The flames missed as the . whatever it was . leaped off with grace and spunk and latched onto Sheba's chest.  
  
Let it be known that the Ancient Lecher of Nightmares, Happosai, has arrived.  
  
"Hmm, not much there, but it's so warm, ahh." Happosai said, groping the wind adept further. Suddenly Spark Plasma lit up all around her, trying to incinerate the ancient pervert. Sadly though, divine justice missed as Happosai dodged the bolts with untold energy and latched himself on the only other latchable bosom in the house. After all, the second law of Nerima states that nothing will ever happen to Kasumi.  
  
Issac-chan was eating his food and enjoying every bite of it when she felt her weight shift. The Venus Adept also noted just where it was moving. Twitching visibly, she looked down to find a . thing . groping . touching . violating her. Cue the explosion of Venus Fury!  
  
"Bastard!" Issac-chan yelled, whipping out Felix's Sol Blade that again somehow made its way into the Nerimian Weaponspace, and tried to slice the pervert in half. She chased him around the table, while Picard, Felix, Soun, and Kasumi continued eating like nothing's happining. The first two used to Garet being chased by a homicidal Jenna and the last two just used to this insanity in general  
  
Jenna and Sheba had joined Issac's quest in righteous vengeance and were also chasing the pervert. Happosai had just crossed the door's threshold, hoping to escape when the Megiddo unleash from the Sol Blade flattened him. In traditional female fury, with the adept twist, Isaac-chan blasted the pervert into the air with a Grand Gaia, the Venus psynergy throwing up rocks and perverts. Next came Sheba's Spark Plasma, which did a fantastic job of deep-frying the lecher further. Finally was Jenna's Searing Beam. While normally reserved for Garet when he did something to annoy her, she was down right furious.  
  
The intense beam of Mars psynergy, further powered by her searing rage, had blasted Happosai into LEO. He'll land about 10 minutes about 15 feet from the Nekohanten's front door. All three of them decided to skip the rest of the food and take a bath. After what just happened, they felt dirty.  
  
An hour later, all the food was cleaned up and now Felix was pounding on the panda. Several Quakes and Spires pounded the martial artist as he tried to get up close and beat Felix into submission. Deciding to end it quick, he unleashed Echo, struck the fool twice, and then summoned Venus on him. Genma, for his credit, did see the creature of pure Venus psynergy, but still fell to the attack.  
  
Jenna and Sheba were both draped in two towels each, one around them and one around their head. Isaac, who was just coming down the stairs after his bath in a pair of Ranma's black pants, a towel slung around his neck and his scarf. His hair, though still damp was in its usual unruly mess. He was happy mostly because he was a he again.  
  
"Does that scarf ever come off?" Felix muttered.  
  
Any witty retort was interrupted by the arrival of a cute little blue djinn, with a reddish tail and fiery red eyes.  
  
-------  
  
Back at Vale's Inn, Ivan has spent the entire night passed out. Well, he did wake up for a bit, found everyone asleep in various positions, and fell back asleep. So when Sol decided to make an unwanted appearance in the Inn's window, there was much complaining. Ranma sprung awake first, expecting a bucket of water. The blue-haired maiden, Mia the girl said her name was, wasn't there. Actually, she had just come in with a tray full of mugs of water, nice cold water. Naturally, she picked that moment to trip on a loose thread of her robes, causing the tray to fly out of her hand and the water to dump all over Ranma.  
  
Boy became girl as parts disappeared and other parts took their place. Mia looked at the now soaked redheaded girl, blinked twice, then looked at Ivan, blinked twice again, and then looked back at Ranma. Gears whirled about in her head.  
  
"Is that some kind of Mercury Psynergy?" Mia asked, genuinely curious. Ranma facefaulted. So Ranma went with the maiden down to the kitchen to get some hot water, and explained to the Mercury adept the wonders and horrors of Jusenkyo. After the explanation, Mia's eyes sparkled - she could get some payback on Ivan.  
  
Said Jupiter adept was just waking up after what he thought was a horrible dream. After all turning into a girl after using Mind Read on a guy and getting drenched by Mia had to be a dream, right? But why was Zephyr in the dream? And just what were the fleshy mounds that the wind adept's hands were resting on. Ivan's felt an icy pang and turned to see Mia, fully dressed and complete with an evil little smirk. Ranma stood around the corner, out of sight and trying to contain her laughter. He suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.  
  
"It's all real and a new Mercury Psynergy. Only the one that cast it can reverse it, and I'm in the mood for blackmail." The resident healer said sweet as Kasumi would have. Apparently unlike the benevolent housekeeper, she was capable of being not nice.  
  
Ivan sighed in defeat. Last time he, er, she tried to Mind Read Mia without permission, he was put in an Ice Missile deep freeze for a couple of hours, though the Water Seer was kind enough to leave his head unfrozen.  
  
Then, to Ivan, Mia said the one phrase that could freeze his soul without her having to resort to psynergy. "Today, we go shopping!" Ivan's high- pitched scream of anguish could be heard all the way to Vault.  
  
But before Mia could drag away the broken adept, Nabiki decided to pipe up. "So what is this psynergy stuff?" Mia glared at the interruption, a glare that Nabiki matched. However, before property damage could start, a Venus Djinn just appeared.  
  
"You go Mia, I'll explain it. And don't forget to tell us ALL what happened!" The djinn squeaked out, waving Mia off. "Have fun!"  
  
"Thanks Flint." Mia said, dragging Ivan out. One could almost swear that he was crying softly. Even Gust, who was still set to Ivan, was laughing its purple djinn butt off. Ivan was mentally glaring Spark Plasmas at it.  
  
And so, in the early rays of a Weyard day, five martial artists and Nabiki were sitting around a three-inch tall Flint, to be instructed in a force that could cause almost as much property damage as the fighters themselves. The sight was rather comical in retrospect, as Kuno tried going after Akane and Ranma, only to get flattened, then get healed by Flint's Cure Well, then to have it repeat. Finally the djinn got frustrated and got his buddy Ground to bind him to the ground.  
  
"Now that you've had your demonstration, I'll get to the explaination. Alchemy is the stuff that feeds this world. Psynergy comes from that power. Following?" Flint started.  
  
Six heads nodded, and there was a glint in Nabiki's eyes.  
  
"Good. Now psynergy comes in the four elements, earth or Venus, fire or Mars, wind or Jupiter, and water or Mercury. You can usually tell what element an adept is by some characteristic, be it looks or temperament. People who can use psynergy are called adepts. Following?"  
  
Again, six heads nodded, and again there was a glint in the mercenary girl's eyes.  
  
"Good example is that young lady over there," Flint said motioning to Nabiki. Jupiter adepts tend to use their minds over brute force. She would most likely be one. Another good example is that Mars adepts tend to have shorter tempers than average."  
  
Fury chose then to appear and smack Flint with a mallet. "We do not!" She screamed indignantly, holding a miniature mallet of pure Mars psynergy. There was a little dust cloud fight as the two djinn continued arguing. Occasionally, flashes of gold and red lit up the dust cloud, as well as the odd little rock and fireball.  
  
The highly entertaining djinn fight was interrupted by a Deluge form above. Both Fury and Flint glared at their Mercury counterpart.  
  
"What was THAT for Fog? We were just getting started!" Fury said, starting to glow red and look rather intimidating. Well, intimidating considering he's about three inches tall and kind of cute.  
  
Said Mercury djinn glared Ice Missiles at the pair. "We're supposed to be helping the newest Adepts, NOT fighting each other." Fog stated bluntly. "I may enjoy acting nuts, but I can be serious when needed to be." He elaborated, at the stares of his now three djinn counterparts. Zephyr had come out of his hiding place in Ranma to make sure he wasn't hearing things.  
  
Flint and Fury dusted themselves off in dramatic fashion. "Anyways, you each get one of us to show you the way. Zephyr there, is already with your friend in red there." Flint explained. Zephyr acknowledged by bounding around the room at breakneck speeds acting like he was sugar-high. It probably wasn't far off from the truth.  
  
"The rest of you will just have to find out who you're partnered with." Fury finished before disappearing in a flash of red psynergetic light. The other three followed suit, only the flashes were in their respective colours.  
  
The Nerimian crew just sat there stunned. They were so stunned that Ground could finally let go of Kuno and disappear for a while. They were thinking along the same lines, well most of them. Kuno was thinking how he could this newfound power to defeat the vile sorcerer Saotome. The others were just trying to absorb the weirdness that just happened. Ryoga for his part was trying to figure out just how it was all Ranma's fault.  
  
They decided to split up for the time being to let it all sink in. Kuno stayed at the Inn, opting for meditating on it all. Ryoga took a left, then a right, and then ended up in the Lamakan Desert. The others wandered about the village of Vale. Passing by a dress shop, Rama heard the female Ivan scream like . well like a girl, as Mia tried to get her into a rather elaborate set of robes, tailored for a woman.  
  
'Wait 'till he gets ta the underwear,' Ranma thought, shuddering at his personal experiences with that topic.  
  
And thus the torture of the wind adept continues as Mia keeps dragging Ivan around from stall to stall, bargain hunting.  
  
-------  
  
Felix glared at the newly arrived Mercury Djinn. The djinn glared back. Felix tested the little thing by trying to cast Rangarok on it. It missed, but heft a nifty hole in the yard.  
  
"Creep! Eruption!" The djinn yelled in an almost familiar voice. All stared in shock until a Deluge came down on Felix's head, drenching him from head to foot. Of course, the water had to hit Isaac too. Luckily, it was warm water so nothing happened.  
  
Despite being a creature of Mercury, the one element that all fire adepts hate, Jenna gushed over the djinn. She scooped him up and hugged the little creature, her death grip on him causing him to fall right in her cleavage. Poor djinn fainted in three seconds flat, and if djinn could get nosebleeds, this one would have a small geyser coming out of his nose.  
  
Felix stared at the passed out djinn, then at Isaac. Dragging the mentioned earth adept out of the room by the scarf. He looked at Isaac with his usual coldish look.  
  
"Don't you think it's weird, a Mercury Djinn trying to use a Mars attack?"  
  
Isaac shrugged. "I woke up a girl and turned back male after I got in the hot bathtub."  
  
"I wondered how that happened. I think there's something wrong with that djinn." Felix stated.  
  
"Besides the identity crisis?" Isaac quipped. "Or the fact that Jenna seems to love it." He added, trying to get to his fellow adept.  
  
"Both. Now here's the plan." And thus Felix began to weave an intricate plan to try to separate Jenna from her new little friend. We'll see what the Nerima Factor has to say to that one later.  
  
An hour or two later, the adepts had decided to get the run of the place. Jenna and Sheba decided to see what a couple of feisty adepts could do. Plus, they wanted to be together just in case HE returned. Picard stuck to sparring with the panda, claiming that he had been neglecting his unarmed combat forms. Kasumi was in the kitchen, taking some more lessons from Spritz.  
  
Which leads us to Felix, who had dragged Issac on a quest about the city to find the materials to enact his plan. The Lady of the Ladle had hit poor Isaac, so he was now a she and glaring Rangaroks at the old woman, who went about her business like nothing weird had just happened. So while Isaac- chan fumed, and adjusted her clothing to fit the smaller frame, he almost missed the distinctive sound of a bell.  
  
The source of the bell noise, the ever-perky Amazon Shampoo was riding at a wicked speed hoping to land a three-point glomp on her currently female airen. After all, just how many redheads were in the area? So off she flew into the air, as she prepared herself for the dismount. Only to be backhanded into the wall by Isaac-chan, who thought that a monster was out to get him and Felix. Bike and Amazon went crashing into a wall, knocking the poor girl out.  
  
When she regained consciousness a few seconds later, Shampoo stumbled to her feet and stumbled over to Isaac-chan. When she fully noticed that she wasn't Ranma, the Amazon turned her head, kissed the confused Isaac on the cheek and gave a delightfully evil grin. After she shook the final cobwebs out of her head, she whipped out her bonbori form subspace.  
  
"Aiya! You I KILL!" The Amazon exclaimed, running at the still confused earth adept. She had just enough time to run for her life, completely forgetting at the moment that she could just use her psynergy. Or perhaps she was too busy mentally yelling at Granite, who was still set to Isaac- chan and finding this all absolutely hilarious.  
  
Whatever the reason, Isaac was frantically trying everything to run away from the perky purple-haired Amazon. Felix just stared in amazement. After all, this day ranked about a 10 on Felix's Weird-Shit-o-Meter and it was only about noon.  
  
-------  
  
Aero: You are pure evil  
  
[Sweetly] Me? Never.  
  
Aero: I don't believe it. Just what are you hiding?  
  
[Shakes finger] That, is a secret  
  
Aero: [Facefaults] Grr. TAKE THAT! [Casts Blue Bolt and Destruct Ray]  
  
[Counters with Guard Aura] Hmm, nice form. [Casts Ply]  
  
Why are you defensive djinn so warlike?  
  
Aero: The same reason why healers are so annoying! [Crackling with electricity]  
  
Cool off Aero, you'll short yourself out [Casts Douse]  
  
Aero: [Short Circuits] X_X  
  
Oops, well he'll be up and at 'em again by the next evil cliffhanger. I gotta get ready to hide from rabid fans.  
  
[Runs away]  
  
Aero: [Wide Awake] WHAT CLIFFHANGER? 


	5. Gizmos, Tramps and Thieves

Aero: [Looking Smog, er smug] Gotcha now . you know that healers aren't supposed to HURT any living thing, including djinn  
  
Not really. Is that in some code?  
  
Aero: Right here [Points to Healer's Code]  
  
So it is. Ah well, I'm in a good mood anyway. Kicked my friend's butt at cards, and I have another idea for evilness.  
  
Aero: Whatever, now write before I show you the power of Jupiter  
  
I dare you. [Casts Guard Aura]  
  
Aero: [Casts Spark Plasma, kicks up dust cloud] HA!  
  
[Cloud clears, Casts Ply] That could have hurt. Now watch my trick. [Whistles]  
  
Aero: [Cocky] But you can't hurt me!  
  
True, but they can. [Points to lunatic Slivers, which attack Aero]  
  
While the lunatic Slivers are chasing Aero, it falls to me to say that I own nothing, except maybe the Spring of Drowned Djinn. Not even the Slivers are mine, though I really wish they were, they're cool.  
  
Aero: [Panicking] GET THEM AWAY FROM ME! [Casts Destruct Ray]  
  
Slivers: [Unaffected and Chasing Aero]  
  
Go Slivers! [Gets bowl of popcorn]  
  
-------  
  
Part 3: Gizmos, Tramps and Thieves  
  
Somewhere in Nerima, two young ladies in odd clothes wandered aimlessly. While they might stick out in some other areas, In Nerima where weirdness reigns, they fit in. In fact, Sheba could swear she heard the word 'fiancée' more than once. Jenna remained oblivious to that fact, but not so oblivious to the leering looks of some of the teenage male population.  
  
Let it be known that the male population of Furinkan High are masochists at heart. After all, they go after Akane, right?  
  
Somewhere during their travels, they came across a shop. It was nestled in between a couple of established and reputable store. It looked narrow, but the storefront was clean and polished and had some interesting wares in the window displays. Curious and without anything really better to do, the adept pair went inside.  
  
Inside were various objects; most of them were pulsing with some king of power. There was actually a few items that resonated psynergy, including another Lash Pebble and Teleport Lapis. Among the odd items were an ancient-looking necklace of rosary beads, an odd creature sealed in a magic jar in suspended animation. The occasional twitch of its whip-like tails and talon proved it living state. Another odd item was a cube with intricate carvings that seemed to radiate with an unknown and random power. Behind the counter of the shop were various vials that contained nothing but clear spring water. There were some highly technical devices there, like a holographic keyboard linked to a subspace hole.  
  
All things considered, the Adepts were highly impressed and curious about the shop. There were so many rare artefacts there and they had so little money and time. The person behind the counter was an odd-looking fellow. He wore black leather pants and a silken shirt. The robe he wore over it was made with an off-white fabric and was trimmed with black leather. Considering the nature of the shop, he looked normal.  
  
The adepts went up to the counter. They exchanged pleasantries, and Sheba tried to Mind Read him. Try being the operative word for when she tried, a wave of energy severed the connection and threw her back a foot and a half. The guy smirked. Sheba glared.  
  
"Welcome to the Æther Gateway, home to some of the strangest things in the Multiverse." The salesman said, smiling happily. "You look like out-of-world travellers, seeking something"  
  
"How did you know that?" Sheba asked, reaching behind her for her weapon as if it was there. It was there actually, stowed away in Neremian Weaponspace.  
  
"Simple, you resonate with a different energy than the rest of the world." The salesman said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"We're wondering how much for the Lash Pebble and Teleport Lapis over there." Jenna asked, on guard but a bit more relaxed than Sheba.  
  
"Those little knick-knacks? Oh how about 10 gold coins each, and I'll throw in another little knick knack that's under the counter." The salesman said, confused that those items were the desired prize. It was usually the weapons that people wanted here, like that useless-looking katana that he had a while back.  
  
"What's the catch?" Sheba asked. In all her time, no deal that good ever didn't have a catch to it.  
  
"No catch. I'm just surprised that's all. Most want weapons or love aids."  
  
The two girls deliberated on the topic for a minute or two and decided that the money was well worth the items, even if the bonus item was useless. So when they officially decided to buy the items, the shopkeeper produced an odd-looking gizmo.  
  
The box part of it was a cube, about a foot each side. Holes were bored into the sides of the device, each face's hole was a circle. In the centre of the device was a black orb, very similar to the device that runs Lemurian ships, only this one had rainbow-coloured streaks running through it. Stranger still were that the streaks were ever changing. At random places, wires stuck out from the orb and implanted themselves into the cube part.  
  
The adept pair looked thoroughly confused. Jenna was starting to get irritated and wanted to Serpent Fume it out of spite. That and she was upset that her cute little djinn had somehow run away and got lost again. Meanwhile, Sheba looked at the shopkeeper, who was chuckling softly.  
  
"Sorry about that young misses. It's called . well I don't know what's it's called. I do know that it allows you to view other worlds. You just need to focus your internal energies towards it. It a rather interesting gadget and it works with most technologies no matter how weird they or their inventors are." The clerk commented. He then handed Sheba an instruction manual. "Here, this is the instruction manual for it. I might come in handy."  
  
Slowly, it dawned on them just what it could do. Their disappointed and frustrated looks turned into joy. Sheba walked out with the parcels, Jenna hung around for a bit. "What's the deal about that necklace over there?" She asked, pointing to one of the items.  
  
And so the salesmen told her about the power of the odd necklace. Jenna got one of those evil grins that usually preludes something nasty happening. She walked out with it all wrapped up a couple minutes later. Sheba was across the street waiting for Jenna got out.  
  
"What you got in the package?" Sheba asked. She had considered Mind Reading her, but the last time she did that and Jenna found out, it took Mia, Picard AND Isaac to heal her. Felix had to hold Jenna back. Of course, telling everyone about Jenna running through the fields naked as a two year old was rather humiliating. She also swore off Truth or Dare that night too.  
  
Somewhere in the wilderness of Japan, Garet suddenly got a fiery chill down his back. For once, he was happy that Jenna wasn't around. It meant that he would live until tomorrow.  
  
-------  
  
In the middle of the afternoon in the rebuilt Vale, Ranma was walking down the street. Sometime during the day, Akane and Ukyo ran into each other and actually started acting civil towards each other. While the powers that be abode were doing a fantastic spit take, a stray bucket full of water had just happened to douse Ranma. So now, an irate wet redhead was walking down the streets when she spotted a little shack. It looked exactly like the other shacks in the village only it was much cleaner. Also the sign out front was a little weird.  
  
"'Æther Gateway'? Weird name," Ranma-chan muttered to herself. Mentally shrugging, the redhead went inside. Inside, it looked like any typical shop in vale would. There were wooden shelves, a counter and more odd artefacts and knick-knacks than you can shake a stick at. Looking about the store, there were some things that stood out. There was a jewel that looked exactly like the Contrary Jewel. It actually was another one, but that's not overly important. Next to that was some unassuming red thread. Ranma-chan shuddered at that memory. What caught his eyes first were the vials of clear spring water that were behind the counter.  
  
"Is that water from Jusenkyo?" Ranma-chan asked, a glimmer of hop in her eyes.  
  
"That and may other places where cursed water gathers. There are many places if you know where to look for them."  
  
"Do have any from the Spring of Drowned Boy?" the redhead asked, turning up the cute factor.  
  
"Sorry young miss, but I sold it to a rather enthusiastic little girl claiming to be the greatest scientific genius in the universe." The shopkeeper said. "Mentioned something about payback or something. Also bought my last vial of Spring of Drowned Girl."  
  
Ranma-chan visibly deflated.  
  
"I do believe I have a couple of items over there designed to suppress cursed though. Look for a yin-yang pendant with stones in the circles. It stops the effects of switching curse by locking you in whatever form you happen to be in when you put it on." The shopkeeper said. "I've sold many in my time."  
  
One could almost hear Ranma-chan's mental rant of "never going to be a girl again". Actually, a few Jupiter adepts did and wondered what the originator of that thought was smoking, and if they could get some. Ranma for his part, and in an unusual act of kindness, grabbed two.  
  
"Ah, so you have a kind heart. That'll be 300 yen. And as a friendly tip, they use Gold Coins in this land. You'll get them fighting monsters." The shopkeeper said. Ranma just handed over the money and left. The currently female martial artist had a new spring in her step. Now if only Ryoga would show up, a good sparring partner was so hard to find - especially one that took punches as well as him.  
  
As Ranma-chan strutted around a corner, Nabiki came across the odd shop. In her search about town for knowledge about this Psynergy thing, as well as what makes this world tick, she went inside. There was the standard fare of odd knick-knacks, though there were some different ones from just a few minutes ago, as if magic changed the inventory.  
  
Nabiki, the ever-critical one, eyed the inventory with a critical eye; checking everything to the most minute detail. What irked her most was that none of the items shown had price tags. Names, sure but no prices. How was a girl supposed to bargain without a starting point?  
  
Various items caught her sight, but ironically enough, what tempted her the most was a weapon. It was a staff, six feet tall with a crescent moon on the top of it. The moon had a violet hue to it and it almost seemed to glow when the light hit it. The staff itself was made from a sturdy wood. Almost hypnotized by it, Nabiki grabbed it and took it to the front counter, where the same robed man stood, still smiling.  
  
"I see you are interested into the Lunar Ankh. It's a fascinating thing, and I can tell you're going to bargain for it." The shopkeeper said mysteriously.  
  
Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "How did you know that?"  
  
The shopkeeper shook a finger. "Now that my dear maiden . is a secret," he said with an almost evil smirk  
  
Nabiki twitched visibly. Regaining her composure, she set the staff on the counter. "How much for this thing?"  
  
"Ooh, I don't know. It was a rare find; you've got a lot of spirit and are going to bargain me down so I'll say 2500 yen as an opening move."  
  
"You seem to know me well. Fine then, 1500 yen"  
  
"I make it a trade to know people. 1000 yen and I'll throw in a mystery gift," the clerk said, grinning.  
  
Nabiki was about to open her mouth until she realized that the offer was for less and there was a free gift attached to it. "What's the catch?" She asked, obviously expecting one.  
  
"There is none. The gift is simply a gizmo that allows you to view other worlds," he said, while producing another gizmo, almost exactly like the one he gave to Sheba a bit earlier in Nerima. The only difference was that a few wires were different and the cube part was a slightly different colour.  
  
Just before she left, the clerk stopped her to give the young schemer an instruction manual for the gadget. When she asked for his name, his reply was "It's not all that important, but if you must know, call me Timothy. I hope you can make good use of your purchases . Nabiki."  
  
She turned around and walked out of the store, only to realize that she hadn't given him her name. When she turned around, the store wasn't there anymore. Only empty ground stood where the store once was. There wasn't even any sign or indication that it was even there to start with. Thoroughly perplexed, Nabiki returned to Vale's Inn, where a young man was panting and all around scared.  
  
She didn't understand most of the conversation, having only arrived in Weyard yesterday, but what she caught was that there was a band of thieves and they needed the Adepts to stop it. Mentally, she wondered who these Adepts were, why they were special, and how she could make some money off of it.  
  
-------  
  
Meanwhile, on some rooftop Isaac-chan was running for his life. Unlike every other time where it's been a monster after his head, this time it was a gorgeous young lady. Of course, he had Mia and you don't want to anger anyone that can permafrost you if you so much as drool at another lady.  
  
Back where the abandoned bike was, Felix was studying it. Reaching for his sword by instinct, he was surprised when he found himself holding Isaac's Gaia Blade. Not worrying about where the sword came from, Felix started poking the bike. It didn't attack back or try to eat him. It didn't even get up. It looked dead. Deciding not to tempt fate, Felix just kept going on with his plan  
  
A couple hours later, the Adept Wrecking Crew were back at the Tendo house. Isaac was actually male when he got back, panting heavily while drenched. Jenna wa clutching her package possessively while waiting for her intended target, an ancient lecher with groping issues. Picard was in the kitchen, helping Kasumi with dinner and with her new studies. Garet had actually found his way back, though how he got there was a mystery. Actually, the fire adept thougt it was Xian, but he wasn't complaining.  
  
As is the way in Nerima, peace and quiet does not last long. In this case, the interruption comes in the form of an Amazon making herself a new door. Among the dust cloud kicked up by the making of one's one door in a wall, Felix jumped into action this time. Thinking that it was some random monster, Felix darted up to it and struck her twice, knocking the figure into one of the walls, knocking her out for a few seconds.  
  
As Shampoo woke up from being defeated yet again, she hobbled over to the wary Venus adept. For some reason, Felix's danger sense was going off the scale but the girl had no weapons and an almost feral cat-like grin. With deliberate motion, she muttered "Wo ai ni," before kissing Felix and finally landind a two-point Amazon Glomp on the confused adept.  
  
Panicking more than letting his sister light a campfire, Felix ran. But nothing is ever that simple as the ancient lecher, healthy as ever unfortunately bounded in with much enthusiasm. Before anyone could react, he had already latched onto Jenna. Nuzzling happily, Happosai never noticed the raising temperature as two fire adepts prepared to rain fiery justice on the pervert. Felix was showing uncharacteristic anger as well.  
  
Blissfully unaware, Happosai detached herself from Jenna and latched onto Shampoo. Bonbori were out and ready to slam the pervert. Of course, the lecher dodged the mace-like weapon with ease. The fight made its way to the garden, with Sheba trying to Plasma him from a distance while not frying her friends and the odd girl. Jenna just unwrapped the parcel she got from the store earlier, looking at the polished bead necklace with an evil glint in her eyes.  
  
Without calling out any warning, she threw the necklace into the rapidly kicking up dust cloud that used to be the Tendo's backyard. When she heard the necklace land on someone, she called out one word into the fracas, causing someone's life to change for the foreseeable future  
  
-------  
  
Aero: . .  
  
Whoa, I did it! He's speechless! He also managed to evade the lunatic Slivers.  
  
Aero: [Crackling with Jupiter psnergy and looking really scary] . .  
  
Um, I should go and hide now  
  
Aero: What . was . THAT?  
  
[Looks innocent] Well, I just thought it was a good place to stop for a while.  
  
Aero: [Glowing bright violet and looking really violent] You are EVIL!  
  
It's a hobby. You have a problem with it?  
  
Aero: YES! FRY! [Cast nearly ever Jupiter attack psynergy in the book]  
  
[Deep-fried Black with 4th degree electric burns, casts Pure Ply very slowly] 


End file.
